Low-energy quasilocalized excitations in structural glasses

Abstract

Glassy solids exhibit a wide variety of generic thermomechanical properties, ranging from universal anomalous specific heat at cryogenic temperatures to nonlinear plastic yielding and failure under external driving forces, which qualitatively differ from their crystalline counterparts. For a long time, it has been believed that many of these properties are intimately related to nonphononic, low-energy quasilocalized excitations (QLEs) in glasses. Indeed, recent computer simulations have conclusively revealed that the self-organization of glasses during vitrification upon cooling from a melt leads to the emergence of such QLEs. In this Perspective Article, we review developments over the past three decades towards understanding the emergence of QLEs in structural glasses, and the degree of universality in their statistical and structural properties. We discuss the challenges and difficulties that hindered progress in achieving these goals, and review the frameworks put forward to overcome them. We conclude with an outlook on future research directions and open questions.

24 pages, 15 figures, a Perspective Article

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• Nonphononic spectrum of two-dimensional structural glasses
• Scaling of the Non-Phononic Spectrum of Two-Dimensional Glasses
• Vibrational phenomena in glasses at low temperatures captured by field theory of disordered harmonic oscillators
• A continuous constraint satisfaction problem for the rigidity transition in confluent tissues
• Anomalous linear elasticity of disordered networks
• Inherent-State Melting and the Onset of Glassy Dynamics in Two-Dimensional Supercooled Liquids
• Instantaneous normal modes of glass-forming liquids during the athermal relaxation process of the steepest descent algorithm